


Vikings Oneshots - Minor Characters

by chibisgotovalhalla



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: a variety of stuff, might be fluff smut angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:33:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibisgotovalhalla/pseuds/chibisgotovalhalla
Summary: "Spirit of Adventure" (the first story in this collection) was a request for Halfdan being taken by a foreign women and dreaming of going to new places.
Kudos: 1





	Vikings Oneshots - Minor Characters

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshots for minor characters from Vikings. Read chapter descriptions and titles for info on each piece.

Halfdan swaggered into Harold’s hall. He was already slightly tipsy. He'd spent the afternoon drinking and playing games with the young warriors who arrived from Vestfold that morning. It was always a treat to shirk his responsibilities. He liked to hear gossip from the other Norwegian kingdoms.

The hall buzzed with unfamiliar faces. Men and women from all over arrived to Harald’s Thing. Halfdan pushed through the crowd to find his brother. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen so many people in one place. But then again, Halfdan saw little value in such memories. If he used the space in his head with useless information, he wouldn't remember important things, like the scent of foreign perfumes or the taste of exotic fruits.

When he found his brother, Harald pulled him into a hard embrace. They bumped foreheads, as was their usual greeting. When they pulled apart, Harald motioned to the large gathering at his Thing.

‘Look at this, Brother! Almost all Norway has attended my summons.’

Halfdan glanced over the crowd. He didn’t dare mention that a large part of Norway, who were loyal to Bjorn Ironside, were not in attendance. When Harald was in a good mood it was best to keep him that way. ‘Yes, yes. Impressive! You are bound to be the envy of all our neighbours.’

‘Indeed, but cast your eye for a moment, brother. You see the variety of people. Traders from as far south as Constantinople gather here tonight. Why don’t you go and have a look and see what they have to offer.’

Halfdan dashed out of the hall. He made his way to the docks, where traders from all along the Silk Road had set up stalls inside tents. Harald’s Norwegian guests browsed the bizarre goods. Halfdan heard compliments on the size of the affair and how rare a gathering this was.

The words reached his ears but they didn’t settle in his brain. Something else occupied all his attention. Standing at one of the stalls was a woman of incredible of exotic beauty.

She was around a foot shorter than Halfdan and swathed in more fabric than he’d seen on one small woman. She drew Halfdan in with mysteries, with secrets waiting to be revealed. With her fine veil partially obscuring her round face, she surely was a mystery. The white netting was transparent enough for Halfdan to see her rosebud lips and soft, round cheeks.

The woman had a skin tone Halfdan hadn’t seen before, even on his Mediterranean expedition. Her complexion was tawny, yellowish-brown, with cool undertones. It made her eyes stand out all the more. They glittered orange-yellow when caught in the light, like the autumnal facades of topaz stones. Framing her face were raven-dark brows. Her hair — just as dark — was wound up beneath the soft folds of her veil.

As she moved to around the tent, bathed in light from her lantern, she shimmered with gold jewellery. Large gold hoop earrings and a thick necklace inlaid with lapis. A thick belt of braided fabric, woven with golden thread, pinched her waist in an odd hour-glass shape. Her dress was low cut at the front and pale blue, like a summer sea. Beneath it she wore an under-dress of sheer white, like her veil, which covered the top of her breasts. Her shoulders were wrapped with a silk, coral-pink stole.

Halfdan could not count the passing time as he stood watching the woman. Several Norse women came and went to her stall, browsing bangles and necklaces, before he plucked up the courage to speak to her.

Halfdan was not smooth with women. He didn’t identify with them or communicate easily. And often he allowed his own lust to do the talking. Tonight was no different, when he popped up around the fabric of her tent, giving the woman a small fright.

‘You look like the rarest of all jewels,’ he said, attempting a compliment.

The woman bowed her head. She spoke to him in broken Norse. ‘I thank you, kind man.’

Halfdan’s eyes widened in delight as he beamed down at her. ‘Tell me where you are from.’

‘I come from trade route… from south and east, from Söğüt. It is… far away. Along the Silk Road.’

Halfdan took a deep breath and released it in an excited rush. ‘Tell me all about this place. I have a deep desire to know — what is it like? But first, tell me you name.’ Halfdan entered the tent without invitation and sat down on a low stool near to the lantern.

‘My name is Sedef. It means, as you call it, “mother of pearl”…’ While Sedef served the customers who came and went, she told Halfdan stories of her country. He sat and listened in awe and wonder. He tried to imagine all the things she described, but most were too cryptic to form pictures in his head.

And the end of the night, when he’d listened to everything she had to offer, Halfdan asked, ‘Would you like to spend the night in the great hall with me? I could show you how we Northmen have sex.’ The art of tact was completely lost on Halfdan the Black.

Sedef’s cheeks reddened to a deep russet. She backed away out of the tent and Halfdan rose to follow her, thinking Odin’s luck was with him. But Sedef reappeared a moment later with two large, brutish-looking Byzantine guards who picked him up and tossed him out of the makeshift market.

Later, Harald laughed as Halfdan recounted the story. But he couldn’t get Sedef out of his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about the Silk Road or Söğüt. All the places he would see along the way. All the people he would meet there.

‘So, are you going to raid west with me again next summer?’ Harald asked.

Halfdan shook his head. ‘No. No, I think I will go to a different place,’ he said in his gruff voice. ‘To the south-east, to look for more beautiful women and exotic places. She has fuelled my spirit of adventure. Now I need to see more.’

Harald laughed. ‘Then I expect to hear stories of how you were thrown out of such places when you return, brother.’


End file.
